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PITCHING A CARTOON SHOW
By John Fountain
CHAPTER 7 - “We’d like to see MORE!”
Let’s talk about pitching a cartoon show, shall we?
NOTE: All illustrations are from pitch documents I've created over the years. All materials copyright/trademark John Fountain 2022 all rights reserved - none of the following material may be copied or reproduced except for purposes of review without permission of the author.
I’ve spent a lot of time preparing you for disappointment.
And rightfully so. The odds are undeniably stacked against you.
But - let’s say you pitched your show, everything went great, and a couple of weeks later, you get the call everyone hopes for:
“We’re interested.”
Now, before I go on to give my advice on what you SHOULD do next, please listen closely to what you SHOULDN’T do next!
Don’t go calling all of your friends proclaiming, “I’ve got my own SHOW!!!”
NO You don’t!
Don’t start thinking to yourself, “I’m gonna be RICH!”
NO You’re not!
Don’t quit your day job because you think, “I’m gonna be FAMOUS!”
How many ‘famous’ cartoonists are there? By ‘famous’ I mean, if you stopped the average person on the street, how many cartoon creators do you think they could name?
Maybe three at best.
The cartoon is famous… the creator is not.
For now, enjoy the fact that you’ve cleared the first major hurdle - they’re INTERESTED!
You may celebrate… just celebrate realistically. MOST people never make it this far, so be proud!
What happens next varies significantly from instance to instance...
...but here’s how it will likely go down:
You will be asked to come in again and give a “repeat performance” of your pitch, this time with a couple more people slightly higher up on the development ladder.
This time, they will have more questions.
As previously mentioned, you need to be prepared for anything.
Most of all, however, you need to be prepared for them to ask you to make changes.
My next bit of advice is controversial, but I stand by it:
SAY “YES” TO EVERYTHING!!!
This is not the time for debate. This is the time to keep them interested in you and your show.
If they say “We want the characters to be older” say “Yes!” If they say they want you to add a sidekick who’s a rapping chimpanzee, say “Yes!”
Once this meeting is over, you can go home and contemplate just how much you’re willing to compromise.
But what’s important is that they’ve seen that you’re someone they can WORK WITH!
If they’re lukewarm on your project, but you come in with your “I’M AN ARTIST!!!” guns-a-blazing, they may just say “Screw it… this person is gonna be a pain to deal with” and move on to the 50 others in line behind you.
You have LOTS of time to debate and change their minds. “NOW” IS NOT THAT TIME!
BE NICE!
BE AGREEABLE!
BE ENTHUSIASTIC!
Even if you don't mean it.
They’ve already decided that they’re interested in your cartoon … the “second pitch” has less to do with your cartoon and much more to do with them getting a feel for what you’ll be like to work with.
If all goes well, they will send you back out into limbo (yes… again) and you need to break out the knitting needles while you wait.
You’ll either get a call saying “We thought about it carefully, but it’s a pass” ...
...in which case you gracefully thank them for their careful consideration and ask if you can come back if you have anything new and they will almost certainly say “yes” if you’ve made it this far.
Which is why you shouldn’t look at this as a “loss”… you have successfully established a “relationship.”
You can, theoretically, keep pitching them until you hit pay dirt.
OR…
...You’ll get a call saying that they’d like to talk more, give notes, and have you expand on your existing bible with more in-depth character descriptions and possibly even episode synopses.
Congratulations! You’re now working for free!
But, you’re working on YOUR cartoon on the gamble that you may get a deal. You’re working for free, but it’s an investment you’re making on yourself.
They will drag this process out as long as they can.
They don’t do it just to get free work out of you (although that’s a bonus on their end)…
They do it because in order to get your show past the next wall of executives, they need powerful ammo, and you’re the only one who can provide it.
My point is, under the best of circumstances, there is still a long and difficult road ahead of you, and it’s got a fun little nickname:
“DEVELOPMENT HELL!”
But that’s another tutorial entirely!
Tomorrow - FINAL INSTALLMENT - Post Mortem
Zig-a-Zig AH, party people!
This tutorial was sponsored by ME and MY PRECIOUS TIME!
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